Friday, January 19, 2007

Food bites

A few days ago, I bought a whole wheat baguette from Whole Foods Market. I made two bite-sized snacks out of the baguette. One is the chocolate panini sandwich, that I made in my new panini maker. The other is bruschetta. Here are the recipes for both these bite-sized goodies.

Method1. Spray one side of the baguette with Pam spray.2. Place the buttered side on the panini maker and spread out the chocolate-hazelnut cream.3. Cover it with another baguette - buttered side up.4. Close the panini grill and gently press down on the baguettes.5. It will take you about 3 to 4 minutes depending on your panini maker.6. Remove from panini maker when the baguette is brown and you notice deep grill marks.7. Serve warm. Makes a great dessert.

8. Makes 4 servings.

Chocolate panini sandwiches

BruschettaIngredientsA couple of whole wheat baguette slices (cut into 1/2 inch thin rounds)Pam fat-free olive oil sprayStore-bought bruschetta (I used the bruschetta from Trader Joes - check the end of this post for a quick-bruschetta recipe)1 pod of fresh garlic

Method1. Spray the baguette slices with the olive oil spray and bake in the oven at 425 degrees for about 7 to 8 minutes or until light brown.2. Remove from the oven and immediately rub the garlic on the warm bread.3. Line up on a tray and top with the bruschetta.4. Serve with pasta or salad.

Method1. Cut the tomatoes into half and remove the seeds. Chop the tomato finely.2. Chop the onions and the cilantro finely.3. Transfer the tomatoes, onions and cilantro to a bowl.4. Add the minced garlic, basil, salt, pepper and cilantro and mix well.5. Finally add the extra virgin olive oil.

Optional: You can place the tomato-onion mixture on the baguette and top it off with the olive oil instead of mixing it into the mixture.